School district's enrollment, facilities to be studied

ENCINITAS -- The San Dieguito Union High School District has
hired a consultant to study the district's projections for
long-term enrollment growth and determine what facilities will be
needed to serve those students, officials said Thursday.

"Our first priority is to make sure we have enough seats for our
kids," said Steve Ma, director of planning services.

District trustees agreed last week to pay as much as $30,000 to
David Taussig & Associates, Inc., a Newport Beach-based
consulting firm, to perform the study. Ma said he expects the
consultant to give the district a preliminary report in late April
or early May.

Benjamin Dolinka, the consultant handling the San Dieguito
project, could not be reached Thursday for comment.

San Dieguito serves nearly 12,000 students at 10 middle and high
schools in an 85-square-mile area that stretches from south
Carlsbad to Carmel Valley.

The consultant will determine whether a new school is needed to
accommodate anticipated enrollment growth, or if new students can
be absorbed by adding classrooms at existing campuses, officials
said.

The district's own projections, presented to trustees in
September, show that while high schools and middle schools in
Encinitas and Carlsbad are expected to be able to handle enrollment
growth through 2010, middle schools in Solana Beach and Carmel
Valley may not be big enough.

Carmel Valley Middle School enrolls about 1,250 students --
already above its capacity of 1,204 -- and is projected to serve
1,428 students by 2010.

Earl Warren Middle School in Solana Beach is projected to hold
steady at 500 to 600 students through 2010, though that number
could eventually jump to nearly 1,200 if the school's attendance
area is ever completely developed.

Officials have identified a prime spot for a new middle school
-- 13 acres available next to the district's new $97 million high
school, Canyon Crest Academy in Carmel Valley. Ma said the land
would cost about $5.9 million to $6.5 million in today's
market.

Ma said a middle school on that site would be able to share a
parking lot, media center and administrative offices with Canyon
Crest.

One option for funding new facilities would be to sell a 20-acre
site in Carlsbad that the district purchased in 1999 for a middle
school that no longer seems to be needed, officials said.

The consultant may also consider whether the district should
sell other support facilities, such as a property on Vulcan Avenue
used by grounds crews for equipment and maintenance vehicle
storage, Ma said.